LOOKING FOR A REGION TO BELIEVE: Via MTB, here's a dead-on comment at jack/zen about the "regionalism issue" and the appearance of consensus:

One group suggests regionalism as a strategy for expanding the centralization of power; another suggests regionalism as a strategy for expanding the distribution of power.

I'd add:

One group defines regionalism as centralizing power now exercised by local communities (consolidation), while another sees it as a strategy to localize power now exercised by the state (devolution).

And:

One group sees regionalism as reducing and simplifying the leadership structures operating within a large geography, while another wants to expand the geography across which leaders of all kinds form new productive networks.